Three Chinese nationals in Australia on international student visas have been arrested as part of a police investigation into a drug trafficking syndicate in Sydney. Seven people in total, including one woman, were arrested by heavily armed police during a raid in Auburn this week. Police say they seized 15 kilograms of pseudoephedrine during the raid.

The Australian’s columnist and Sky TV presenter, Chris Kenny says he will not be bullied by the ABC into dropping his defamation case over the offensive Hamster Decides’ skit. The ABC has made an extraordinary public attempt to force Mr Kenny to back down on the defamation suit, releasing a legal letter to news networks, presumably moments after sending it to Kenny’s lawyers.

Little to no progress has been made on improving Indigenous life expectancy and there has been a decline in Indigenous employment but the child mortality rate has been lowered and literacy and numeracy skills improved, the latest Closing the Gap report reveals.

Australians are a generous bunch. Every year, almost two million households donate to the work of Australian aid and development agencies. Among 5.4 million Catholics nationwide, around 90 per cent of parishes and 70 per cent of schools support Caritas Australia’s work with the children, women and men most vulnerable to poverty and injustice.

The man who helped provide the blueprint for Treasurer Joe Hockey's austere first budget has lashed out at ''narrow sectional interests'', including his ''good mate'' David Gonski, for the hostile community response.

The first asylum seekers to be granted refugee visas on Nauru have been released into the community. Thirteen asylum seekers have been given refugee protection, including an Iranian family and four single men.